Heavyweight boxing & mixed martial arts ratings and commentary

August 2010

August 08, 2010

The triangle choke: once it was the nemesis of anyone who didn't know jiu-jitsu, then it fell out of favor after everyone knew—due to necessity—how to defend it. But recently—particularly in high-profile fights—the triangle choke has been the decisive move.

Months ago it was Fedor Emelianenko who got caught, by Fabricio Werdum. In UFC 117, it was Chael Sonnen, an elite wrestler who controlled the invincible Anderson Silva for 4 1/2 rounds on the ground, who got careless and didn't respect the triangle's power. And Silva—a jiu-jitsu black belt but by no means known for his ground game—was the one who won the fight from the bottom, like Royce Gracie did against Dan Severn 16 years in UFC #4.

Following four other excellent fights, the Silva-Sonnon battle had all the earmarks of a classic. In the first round, the sentiment went from "Silva is going to kill him" quickly to "wow Sonnen really rocked him!" and over the course of the next several minutes, with Sonnon on top and Silva unable to reverse, the realization came that not only was Sonnen going to win the round, that it could be a 10-8 round and that Silva was in definite danger of losing the fight.

The next few rounds did little to dispel that notion. Silva got off a few decent punches and kicks in the first 30 seconds before Sonnon got it to the ground again, and won both rounds convincingly. In a likely 30-26 hole, Silva battled back early in the 4th, rocking Sonnen worse than he had previously, but once it went to the ground the tide turned and Sonnen, despite his bloodied face that leaked all over his opponent, won the fourth round, too.

Silva came out like gangbusters in the fifth round, catching Sonnen with hard shots. But he had tired a lot. Sonnen was gassed by now as well, but he saw the win in hand and adrenaline kept him going. The one minute mark was telling: Silva floored Sonnen, but hesitated before diving in for the kill. When Sonnen got up, and himself rocked Silva, who stumbled, he immediately secured the takedown.

Sonnen only needed to do what he had done all fight: completely control the ground game. Silva had shown no ability to reverse Sonnen, and had taken all of the punishment save a quick jab here or an elbow there. He'd had a few moments over the rounds where he improved his position, but Sonnen corrected, and many times Silva passed up opportunities for armbar attempts. So, inevitably, several minutes went by with Sonnen staying busy to avoid getting stood up, and keeping control of Silva. With just over two minutes to go—one minute to the biggest win of Sonnen's career and UFC history—Silva managed to slip a triangle choke onto Sonnen.

It didn't look pretty, or effective, at first, and perhaps that's why Sonnen didn't do what he needed to in order to escape. Soon he looked caught, though not severely. But then the referee was stopping the action, as both fighters continued to scramble. They were still tangled up, and neither had leverage to move as the referee continued to try to stop the fight. I'm sure it was the same wherever you saw the fight: the crowd immediately protested as it became clear the fight was stopped with Silva declared the winner.

What the replays showed was clear: Sonnen was not only caught, he was nearly out, and had tapped at least once. Perhaps he didn't realize it afterwards, and when Silva let up on the choke he started fighting again. Whatever the case, there was confusion but no controversy from Sonnen after the contest was over.

With the win Silva retains the UFC Middleweight title, and made the Brazil vs. America score a bit more even at 2-3. Junior Dos Santos defeated Roy Nelson in a one-sided match; Matt Hughes rocked Ricardo Almeida and immediately latched on an Anaconda choke from above, trapping Almeida's arm along with his neck, in the first round; hyperactive Clay Guida won a surprise victory over Rafael dos Anjos, who won the majority of the fight until a jaw injury (broken?) forced him to tap while jammed against the fence; and Jon Fitch was just tougher than Thiago Alves again in their rematch.

August 03, 2010

August offers a lot more than July did for heavyweight boxing fans, and if you count the July 31st fights as the kickoff it's pretty much a shutout.

August 13: #22 Chris Arreola (28-2) vs. #95 Manual Quezada (29-5)

The first big-time fight comes on the 13th, when #22 Chris Arreola mounts another comeback against #95 Manuel Quezada. Really both fighters are looking to bounce back: Arreola from his loss to Tomasz Adamek, and Quezada from his defeat by Jason Gavern. Additionally, the fight is being promoted as the "Mexican-American Heavyweight Title."

Arreola won't get back in the top ten by beating Quezada, but he can once again put himself in position. Still, it won't prove anything to his detractors; he's already demonstrated he can beat 2nd-tier fighters like Chazz Witherspoon and Brian Minto. He needs to prove he can beat a real contender. Quezada had a long winning streak broken by Gavern, and he can make up for that loss with a win over Arreola. That would put him back near the top 25, similar to where he was before his loss, and would drop Arreola out of the top 50 and into the ranks of gatekeeper in most people's estimation.

August 21: #6 Tomasz Adamek (41-1) vs. #58 Michael Grant (46-3)

The man who recently beat Arreola, Tomasz Adamek, looks to prove he can beat an even bigger man when he takes on 6' 7" Michael Grant on August 21 for what is probably the Fight of the Month. Adamek, a former light heavyweight and cruiserweight, rose up the heavyweight rankings as fast as David Haye, who is only one spot ahead of him in the SportsRatings Heavyweight Boxing Top 100.

Though a win would make a potential title fight—whoever it was with—more interesting, Adamek won't surpass Haye in our rankings by beating Grant. The latter has been inactive lately, beating unrated Kevin Burnett for his only fight in 2010, and not fighting at all in 2009. He hasn't lost since 2003, however, when he fell to Dominick Guinn, and his only other defeats are to Jameel McCline and Lennox Lewis. Grant's comeback attempt at age 37 may be unlikely, but he can still be dangerous and has a decided size advantage over Adamek. A win would put him knocking on the door of the top ten, and possibly put him next in line for a fight against one of the similarly-tall Klitschko brothers. If Shannon Briggs, why not Grant?

August 21: #23 Robert Helenius (12-0) vs. #50 Gregory Tony (12-0)

Finland's Helenius takes on France's Tony in a battle of undefeated European prospects. Helenius is 26 and thus far a bit more accomplished than the 32-year-old former K1 kickboxer Tony. Both are tall, at 6' 6" and 6'5" respectively.

Helenius is the better-known of the two, having defeated Lamon Brewster and Gbenga Oloukun most recently. Beating Tony would be another step toward an eventual title shot, but he'd still be outside the top 10 and needs a marquee win to separate himself from the crowded pack of young Euro contenders. It's definitely a bigger opportunity for Tony, who could get his name in the mix with an upset.

Coming off his biggest win, a decision over aging legend Oliver McCall in June, Timur Ibragimov seeks to continue his momentum when he faces undefeated Singh on the 24th. For a fight that won't gain him much in prestige this seems like a bit of a risk. Singh has hardly faced the best competition as a pro (only one rated fighter, journeyman Colin Kenna) and has just 11 stoppages among his 20 wins. He competed in the Olympics in 2000 as a light heavy and was more or less a cruiserweight until the last couple of years. But any undefeated fighter is an unknown quantity, and Ibragimov can have trouble with just about anyone decent.

That said, Ibragimov's experience should help him continue his climb toward an unlikely title shot at age 35. Singh, who also goes by "Guru" Nagra, is India's #1 heavyweight fighter by way of New Jersey and clearly has a lot more to gain from this bout: a leap back into the top 100 and the cheers of a billion people if he pulls off the upset.

August 02, 2010

There wasn't much change in the SportsRatings Heavyweight Boxing Top 100 this month; the biggest development was probably Ruslan Chagaev moving ahead of David Haye for 4th place, after they'd been tied the last few months, and that change was fostered by a slight re-engineering of the rating system which is detailed at the bottom of the ratings explanation page.

Other than former #8 David Tua's draw with Monte Barrett, the only other contests among top 50 boxers were all on July 31st, barely making it before the bell. On that Saturday Juan Carlos Gomez moved up a notch to #17 (passing countryman Odlanier Solis) by beating warhorse Zack Page; #30 Alexander Dimitrenko rebounded from his loss to Eddie Chambers a year ago by stopping #102 Yaroslav Zavorotny for the European title; and Seth Mitchell continued his strong run with a first-round TKO of Derek Bryant, though it only moved him from #49 to #46.

But it was Monte Barrett's performance against David Tua that turned heads mid-month. Barrett was a supposedly washed-up fighter, but proved again that he is the best gatekeeper the division has to offer as he outboxed Tua in a fight that ended a draw. Most impressively, he managed to both weather Tua's left hooks and in the last round put Tua on the canvas for the latter's first official knockdown. If Barrett is the litmus test as to whether a fighter will get a title shot, Tua is in limbo with the draw.

Tua fell from #8 to #14, and still has a chance at a big title fight—witness both Sam Peter and Shannon Briggs being scheduled currently and Tua is not much of a stretch—but his meager odds of beating either Klitschko seem to have fallen to nil. His granite chin was one of his trademarks, and it failed him against Barrett, whom he couldn't KO with his trademark left. Barrett claims to have retired with this bout, but with it he jumps from barely inside the top 200 to #66, and no doubt there will be monetary offers coming his way. But having just fought David Haye, Odlanier Solis, Alexander Ustinov, and Tua consecutively, I wouldn't blame him for saying enough is enough, and going out on a high note with a fight that most thought he won.

Four new fighters join the top 100 with their first rated win:

Damien Campbell, 34, yet another UK prospect, scored a convincing win over journeyman Lee Swaby in his very first pro fight, and debuts at #65. Campbell had over 300 amateur fights, but lost to both David Price and Tyson Fury along the way.

Scott Lewis and Adam Forsyth debut at #80 and #83 respectively after each of them beat Bob Gasio (#269 last month). Forsyth (8-0) got a KO to Lewis' decision and clearly has more potential than the 3-4 Lewis, but Lewis beat Gasio earlier in the month and therefore received slightly more points for his win.

Miguel Angel Morales is the top debut at #48 for upsetting #110 Lisandro Diaz.
He's 41 years old and just 10-9-1, though, and hasn't much to work with
in the Argentine scene. This will likely be at or near the peak he
achieves.

August's schedule offers a lot more than July and an upcoming post will run down the matchups.